It’s not often you get to make a 3d reconstruction of a centuries-old coat of arms which is part of one of Slovenia’s most beautiful castles. So when the opportunity arose (with thanks to the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia), we took it with both hands. The 500-year-old stone coat of arms is fixed on a wall of one of the oldest wings of the Gewerkenegg Castle in the mining town of Idrija (which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list). The castle was built in the first half of the 16th century. Although the coat of arms can not be dated with any certainty, historians and experts alike agree that it dates from the same period as the castle, around 1530.What made this project particularly challenging was the fact that there wasn’t any recent source material available. The only thing we had, which still showed the coat of arms in a decrepit state, was a photo taken over 100 years ago. Especially in the last century gradual deterioration took its toll on the material, leading to the loss of many details.With only a century-old picture to work with in combination with experts’ advice on heraldic designs from the early 16th century we managed to meticulously reconstruct it. Currently a life-size 3d printed model of the reconstructed coat of arms is on display in the Idrija museum. Check out the time-lapse video of the reconstruction below